Sunday, December 11, 2011

Some Sunday Stuff

North
Korea warned South Korea of "unexpected consequences" if Seoul displays
Christmas lights near the tense border, and vowed to retaliate for what
it called "psychological warfare".

The South's defence ministry said earlier it was considering a
request by a Seoul church group to put up Christmas lights on a steel
tower shaped like a tree atop a military-controlled hill near the
border.

The North's official website, Uriminzokkiri, called the plan "a mean
attempt for psychological warfare" against the communist state and
threatened to retaliate immediately if the lights are switched on.

The 155-metre (511 feet) hill in the South, about three kilometres
(two miles) from the border, is within range of North Korean gunfire.

The tree-shaped, 30-meter-high steel structure is illuminated by
thousands of small light bulbs and can be seen from the North's major
city of Kaesong just north of the border, according to media reports.

"The enemy warmongers... should be aware that they should be held
responsible entirely for any unexpected consequences that may be caused
by their scheme," it said.

"This issue... is not something to be ignored quietly," it said.

The two Koreas in 2004 reached a deal to halt official-level
cross-border propaganda and the South stopped its annual Christmas
illumination ceremony.

But Seoul resumed the ceremony last December amid high military tensions with Pyongyang.

Cross-border ties have been icy since the South accused the North of
torpedoing its warship with the loss of 46 lives in March 2010.

Pyongyang angrily denied involvement, but went on to shell a border
island in November 2010 that left four South Koreans dead and sparked
fears of war.

The North has previously accused the South of displaying Christmas lights to spread Christianity among its people and soldiers.

The North's constitution provides for religious freedom, but the US State Department says this does not exist in practice.

The police must respect and not politicise long-held religious
customs like Christmas carolling, DAP national secretary Teresa Kok said
today.

She said a recent request by Klang district police for two churches
there to hand over details of homeowners they would visit while
carolling indicated an attempt to clamp down on religious freedom.

“While the requirement of providing detailed info of carolling
activities and participants, and obtaining a police permit is tedious in
itself, Christian churches and groups have adhered to this rule since
the late ‘80s and have gone about spreading joy and peace to members’
homes without disturbing public order nor infringing on the religious
freedoms of others in Malaysia.

“The supposed current need for further information and restrictions
on carollers, such as the requirement to provide the police with details
of names and contacts of homeowners whom the churches’ carolling groups
will visit, is simply unnecessary and an abuse of power by the
authorities,” she said in a statement.

Kok urged Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to clarify
the need for churches to inform Bukit Aman police headquarters and the
National Security Council of this “insignificant information”.

“This should not be practised nor tolerated by the government of
Malaysia and further clarification must be delivered by the authorities
should this episode be merely an act of overzealous police personnel,”
she said.

The Malaysian Insider reported today two churches in Klang had
received a memo from a district police officer earlier this week asking
them to submit the names and contact details of homeowners they planned
to visit.

Rev Father Michael Chua said the two parish churches — the Church of
Our Lady of Lourdes and the Church of the Holy Redeemer — were also told
to inform Bukit Aman and the National Security Council of their plans.

Carollers are usually required to submit their full names, identity
card numbers and details of total participants, dates, time and general
areas of their visits.

The irregular condition imposed by the Klang district police officer
this year has cast the spotlight on a recently passed law that governs
peaceful assemblies, which many civil liberties groups claim is more
restrictive than the law it replaced.

Malaysia, which established diplomatic ties with the Vatican earlier
this year, has nearly a million Catholics out of its 28 million
population.

I give this pinhead and others like him two minutes before running away in horror from the car tires strewn over gravel yard, the scabies-ridden kid with a runny nose and the dog ambling about, looking for a place to die. Comment not on that which you know not.